Senate Democrats Weigh In on GOP Infighting

ABC News (WASHINGTON) -- Senate Democratic leaders weighed in on the current Republican infighting over the Ryan-Murray budget deal at a news conference Thursday. Asked what he thought of House Speaker John Boehner’s criticism of outside groups weighing in on the budget deal, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, “it was a breath of fresh air as far as I’m concerned.”

“I think that what he said was valid. I'm sorry that they're having the acrimony that they were having among themselves as you have seen in all the press today, and there is some of it over here too,” Reid said at a news conference Thursday.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he thinks Rep. Paul Ryan’s compromise on the budget shows that the Republican Party is open to moving away from the Tea Party.

“What we have seen in the Senate over the last several months and now in the House, led by the courage of Congressman Ryan, is mainstream conservatives standing up to the hard right and saying this is no good for America, this is no good for the Republican Party. We're not going to follow the tea party, like Thelma and Louise, over a cliff,” Schumer said.